Hopeful Promise
by SamNny
Summary: "However, fate was not that kind, and he was not that lucky. In fact, he almost never seemed to be the one that was there when he should have been. He was almost always beaten out by someone else." Tadamu


The once white and fluffy clouds that drifted in the bright blue sky were now a threatening grayish color with a near-black hue in the background. The soft and gentle breeze had turned into a rather violent whirlwind, kicking up leaves and dirt, papers and litter, and anything else it could grasp. The warm and radiating sunlight had been blocked out and replaced by a cold and chilling mist, although it wasn't quite wet enough to call rain. Yes, the wonderful weather from earlier had now turned into a harsh pre-storm. All that was missing now was thunder and lightning.

Yet there was one girl who hadn't noticed the difference yet. All of the other children had taken off and sought shelter inside the safety of their homes. The playground that had once been full of life and laughter was now just an empty sandbox. Empty except for her, of course. She had taken refuge on the swing set and lightly kicked her legs back and forth to move herself. The teeter-totter had been completely abandoned, the monkey bars left desolate, the slide was deserted, and all of the wonder had been taken along with those children. With only her there, the place seemed even more forgotten.

But if we focus on this girl, we'd see that she appeared to _want _to blend in with the forsaken environment. Her usually vibrant bubblegum hair was damp and sticking to her face. Her bangs hung over her once cheery golden eyes. Those same orbs that were full of fire and passion were now clouded and void. Her usually joyful smile was now a small, almost invisible frown. The rosiness of her cheeks was replaced with a pale color that was very unfitting for her. And this was all just her face.

Her little pink shirt with the horizontal black stripes held tightly to her skin. Her black hood bunched up by her neck, almost as if to keep it hidden. Her black jumper hung loosely over her shirt, while the rest of it stuck to her lap. The little silver buttons on it shone dimly in the poor light. Her red and white stockings that originally went up to about her knees were hanging low by her little black shoes. They were all muddy and dirty from her earlier wandering. Not like she cared or anything. Her red hair clips were curled up tightly in her left hand, which was in such a tight fist that her knuckles were turning red. Her other hand was just the same, only it was curled up around the chain of the swing.

Everything about her screamed sorrow, despair, anger, erased, pain, anguish, suffering... the list could go on and on. But our heroine was not usually one to sulk or become overwhelmed with defeat. No, she pushed through most everything. Her personal cheerleader, Ran, usually gave her pep talks and words of encouragement to keep fighting. Her level-headed friend, Miki, usually provided her with rationality and peace of mind. And her little sweetheart, Su, usually offered comfort and acceptance when life brought her down. And yet it was all three of those little ladies that were sitting on the swing with her, cooped up in their eggs, and refusing to come out. The devastating events of earlier had them all beaten down.

So there she sat on the swing, lightly kicking her feet to move back and forth, her chara's swaying with her from inside her pouch. She had no headphones in, no iPod or MP3 Player to drown out the noisy weather or the depressing thoughts in her head. She wasn't wallowing in her bad mood, she wasn't being "emo," she wasn't having thoughts of suicide or running away - she was just sad. Overwhelmingly sad, mind you, but sad nonetheless. And she just didn't care to do anything about it right now.

She would have been content to sit on that swing for the rest of the night. She would have done it, too, had a certain someone not walked by and saw her. Her pink-plastered attire always caught his eye. And I'm sure you might be wondering, 'Well now why is he out in this bad weather when everyone else has gone home?' Strange as it might be, coincidence has placed him in the right spot, although not really at the right time. If he had been there at the right time, he probably could have prevented this whole thing. He wouldn't have been able to stop the events, but he would have been able to comfort our pinkette and distract her.

However, fate was not that kind, and he was not that lucky. In fact, he almost never seemed to be the one that was there when he should have been. He was almost always beaten out by someone else. Someone, mind you, that he hated losing to. To see that smug man with his hands all over her really got his blood boiling. He might have been 'just a kid,' but he knew powerful emotion when he felt it. Happiness, sorrow, anger, love, hatred - he knew what that felt like.

Yet, that mattered not right now. What mattered was that our little blonde King was scurrying down the street, grocery bags in each of his hands, trying not to get knocked over by the wind. Why, oh why, did his mother have to send _him _out to pick up the forgotten groceries for dinner? Better yet, why couldn't she just make something else? It's not like they didn't have enough food in the kitchen to make a dozen other recipes or anything. But she had insisted, and she was his mother, so he did as he was asked. But he hadn't counted on running into her on his way home.

"Amu-chan..."

He slowed down to a stop and whispered her name, squinting his eyes to make absolutely sure that it was her and not someone else. The last thing he needed was to go over and bother some other girl. But after a few moments of lingering, he finally concluded that he knew the pink-haired girl. He set his bags down on a nearby bench and made his way over to her slowly. The way that she was sitting, clutching the swing tightly and the clips in her other hand, made him nervous. She looked... unstable.

So he took cautious steps out into the sand, trying to step loud enough to let her hear him without completely startling her. He stopped just short of her kicking legs and bent down to put his hands on his knees. He tried to stare into her face - the pretty one he always liked to gaze at - but it was hidden. She looked lost and far gone, but she was sitting right here. So taking a deep breath, he said, "Amu-chan?"

She stopped kicking her legs and the swing soon stopped, too. She loosened her grip on the chain slightly, but remained otherwise still. She refused to look up at him, refused to relax her body, and refused to speak. It was almost like she was traumatized or something. Her tense state worried him, so he slowly reached out a hand and placed it on her knee, saying her name again.

"Amu-chan, it's me. What are you doing out here?"

She didn't say anything, didn't smile at recognizing that it was him. Of course she recognized his voice; she only heard it every day. He was only the boy she'd been in love with for over a year now. Not only that, but she could hear Kiseki in the background calling out for her chara's. He was demanding the attention of his loyal subjects, but even Miki refused to come out and give him the time of day. Both she and her chara's had completely shut down.

Not knowing what else to do, he moved his hand from her knee to her face. He carefully grabbed her chin and forced her head up and he used his other hand to wipe her bangs out of her eyes. His own eyes widened at the sight of her foggy and empty ones. She looked like her very own soul had been taken from her. But her mouth parted slightly at his handling of her, but that was all the further reaction he got. Kiseki floated down to her pouch and opened it, knocking obnoxiously on the girls' eggs, but he still got nothing.

The look on this lovely girls face and her tense body made him panic. What on Earth could have happened to do this to her? Did something happen to her parents? Her sister? Did it have anything to with that damn cat-bastard Ikuto? Just the thought that it might be him enraged the kiddy-king. But getting all mad and upset would do nothing for her. She looked like she needed some warmth and comfort more than anything.

Calming Kiseki down, he let go of her face and took a seat on the swing next to her. He looked at the playground before them, imagining all of the children that must have been here earlier. It made him smile to think that they had all been laughing and playing games. Kids lined up to use the teeter-totter, they would see who could make it across the monkey bars the fasted, go down the slide on their backs and bellies, play tag and hide and seek... It must have been nice. He could only imagine how they all fussed when their parents told them it was time to leave.

Kiseki sat on his right leg, still staring at the pouch he knew his subjects to be in. Whatever was wrong with their creator was also dragging them down. He hated it. He despised it, he loathed it, and he wished it would die. The pessimistic and overall depressing vibe emitting from them was throwing him off as well. Their feelings were becoming his and he secretly thought it might be a trap. But when he looked up at Tadase, he knew better than to dwell on possible conspiracy theories. So he settled for folding his hands in his lap and looking out to the playground as well.

Sighing, Tadase was startled when he heard the swing next to him rattle. She had started kicking her feet again, propelling herself calmly in the chaotic wind. The other swings were thrashing around, hitting the bars in between them, and the chains rattled loudly. This wasn't exactly peaceful, but she remained calm.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, knowing it was his mother calling to ask him why he wasn't home yet. He turned around to see his bags of groceries all over the place and knew it was a lost cause. He would get scolded later, both for being late and losing the groceries, but he didn't care. He decided on reaching out, unclenching her hand, and taking her hair clips. He shoved them in his pocket before removing his coat and draping it over her shoulders. She stopped swinging again and let him hook one of the buttons so it would stay on her. Then he took her now free hand in his and started kicking his own feet. Following after him, she let a small smile grace her lips as she squeezed his hand.

She supposed that now everything would be O.K.

* * *

"A/N: Why of course I can write both Amuto and Tadamu, who do you think I am? Ha-ha, but seriously, I'm a hardcore Amuto fan, but I still love the idea of Tadamu. I'm indecisive. Anyway, I was extremely disappointed with the lack of good Tadamu fic's out there, so I decided to write one of my own. I will leave it up to you guys to see if you like it, but I think it's a nice change of pace. Her chara's didn't leave her, they aren't older, they didn't have some cheesy get together/kiss, and Ikuto wasn't a total asshole to her/leave her. Honestly, whatever happened to make her so sad is up to you guys. I purposely left that open for thought. Anyway, to end my long rant, I hope you enjoyed this. Reviews are loved as is criticism. Until next time."


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